Battle for the Smash Ball
by KazMazter
Summary: The Smash Ball holds unimaginable power, as well as many secrets to a co-existing Universe. Mario and many, many more Nintendo stars join together in a bid to stop Bowser's most destructive plan, in this fierce battle for the smash ball.
1. Chapter 1: The First Final Battle

Battle for the Smash Ball © Matthew Price

Super Smash Bros. and all related games, characters, music and merchandise ©Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Battle for the Smash Ball

Chapter 1

The First Final Battle

The two enemies stood fearlessly in the arena, facing each other with looks of pure hatred for each other etched on both faces. They had always been enemies, these immense forces, since the creation of this realm where everyone they knew had been confined. No one knew why they opposed each other- they just did. The Universe in which they lived commanded it, and so they did; forever feuding, enemies evermore.

This was not the first, 'Final Battle' these two had waged. Many had come before it, each more ferocious than the last, but none had ever been interrupted, for it was nature for them to wage battle with each other, and nature, must always take its course.

The battle was taking place in a Sacred Area known as the Final Destination, an area that's said to be the cross-over point of two worlds, where energy is exchanged between them. Despite this legend, however, no-one had ever made it to a different world, or had discovered this energy that's supposed to exist.

The first warrior, Mario, was also the first to move. He dashed forward, a mere blur of red and blue, and jumped into the air with great speed. His opponent, Bowser, a ferocious creature that resembled a dinosaur, merely watched, his eyes following Mario as he rose higher into the air. Once Mario thought he was high enough, he kicked forward, and shifted his weight to his gloved fist, where he began to drop rapidly, fist-first towards the spike-shelled creature below.

Bowser remained still, even now as Mario came rocketing towards him, getting closer and closer until- CRASH!

The gargantuan Koopa King pushed off with unthinkable speed for such a large creature, and Mario plummeted to the ground with an eruption of debris and dust. Bowser turned to face Mario, and took in a huge gulp of air, and exhaled a huge stream of fire directly at Mario. As Mario got up from his fall, he saw the fireball speeding straight for him, and jumped once more, over the fire, where his foot found Bowser's head. Bowser groaned in pain as Mario put his weight into his foot to push off, but as he did, Bowser swiftly turned and gripped Mario.

Mario looked back, startled, to find the giant Koopa's scaly claw wrapped around his ankle, but was quick to recover. Mario charged up a fireball in his hand, and threw it forward, where it connected with Bowser's face. The beast released Mario, who flipped over and landed on his feet, facing the King.

Bowser stopped tending for his burn and stomped forward furiously, baring his teeth at Mario. As Bowser charged forward, Mario began to run backwards, dodging the beast's furious swipes and slashes at him with his clawed hands. As Mario jumped away however, Bowser leapt forward, throwing all of his weight into a massive shoulder tackle, sending Mario hurtling over the side of the arena.

Bowser began to laugh as he heaved himself back onto his enormous feet, whilst massaging his scaly shoulders. But as he steadied himself, Mario rose from below the stage, fist held high in the air, a smirk hidden underneath his famous jet-black moustache. A startled look jumped onto Bowser's face as his brain finally realised what his eyes were 

looking at. As Bowser watched, Mario's fist appeared to shine, and Mario rocketed forward, a meteorite of red and blue, where with a huge crunching sound, the gloved fist of the oldest Mario Brother, connected with Bowser's head.

Bowser was propelled backwards, headfirst, where he slid along the floor leaving dust and debris in his wake. As he slid to a halt, he lay motionless, belly-up, with his spiked, green shell stuck deep into the floor. Other than the odd twitch, he lay still, unable or un-wanting to move, Mario didn't know, but he remained still either way.

Mario broke from his fighting stance and placed his hands on his knees. He began to regain his breath, and he closed his eyes, sweat dripping from his face. As he rested however, he heard a loud scuffling, and spun to find Bowser trying to get up. As Mario prepared himself, Bowser began to talk.

"You win, as always Mario," the Koopa coughed, as he attempted to get up, "It's getting a bit old."

Mario remained silent, and resumed his fighting stance. Bowser continued.

"I've been thrown around by my tail. Had my head jumped on, had bombs thrown at me, been possessed by an evil witch, trained by a wimp, had the memory beat out of me, used by a giant hand, devoured by the explosion of star, and now I've had my lights punched out," Bowser recited grimly, "And the worst you've come off Mario is having to wear a goofy hat with wings."

Again, Mario stayed silent, leaving the Koopa to continue his speech.

"But this time, Mario, I know how to win," Bowser said, a smile appearing on his reptilian face, "I have no chance of winning here, in this Universe. Here, it is impossible for any villain to win. It is set out to be so, destined to be that way. Almost as if it's a rule of physics!"

A look of confusion appeared on Mario's face at this statement, and he decided to reply.

"Whatta do you mean?" Mario asked.

"Oh come on!" Bowser roared, "This world! It's too predictable, yet too unlikely at the same time! Why are we enemies? Not even we know! We just are! Why are new things 'appearing' in our world without any explanation?"

"You're a not making any sense now Bowser," replied Mario.

"This place we are standing in now," Bowser continued, ignoring Mario, "Is supposed to lead to a different world. A certain energy is supposed to be exchanged here, and I found out what it is."

Mario couldn't believe what Bowser was saying.

"That's impossible!" Mario exclaimed.

"It's the Smash Balls Mario!" Bowser explained, his teeth baring, "Why do you think they allow you to unleash energy you could never have, unleash attacks you could never do! The Smash Balls contain energy from this, 'Other World'. This makes them the key to getting there."

"You wantta to go there?" Mario asked, amazed by what he was hearing.

"Of course," answered Bowser, chuckling evilly, "If I can get there, I will have a better chance of winning."

"But how are you going to get there?"

"To get there I must harness the energy of the Smash Ball," Bowser explained, "And there is only one way the energy can be harnessed. And that's by absorbing it into the body!"

"But-"

"But for now Mario," continued the Koopa King, "I will use what I've got so far to get rid of you!"

Behind Bowser, several Smash Balls began to gather together, creating a huge, glowing ball of energy. Mario put on a blocking stance, but it gave no resistance against the huge blast that fired towards Mario, forcing him off the arena in an instant. Mario watched as he fell through the twirling clouds of dimensional energy that surrounded the arena and the platform and Bowser faded out of view. The wind began to whip against Mario's skin, and roar in his ear. And after a few minutes of uncontrollable falling, all went black.

By

Matthew Price / KazMazter


	2. Chapter 2: Death from the Sky

Battle for the Smash Ball © Matthew Price

Super Smash Bros. and all related games, characters, music and merchandise ©Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Battle for the Smash Ball

Chapter Two

Death from the Sky

The day was coming to an end in Dreamland, as the golden orb in the sky began to hide behind the hilltops in the distance. As it sank lower and lower, stars began to appear, as if waking up from their daytime slumber ready to shine brightly in the night. The moon was already out by this time, though not as bright for its earliness, but still just as beautiful, sitting there in the scarlet streaked sky, like a mother looking down the scene below.

Dreamland was at its quietest at this time in the evening. As if it were solar powered, and only came to life when the sun was bright. But now, as night came upon the peaceful Kingdom, the people were settling down, the trees and the plants were begin to rustle in the breeze, and even the many rivers seemed to flow a lot slower at night, as if to give everything else the peace it needed.

As night drew in, darkness began to envelope the land, like a soft blanket over a child that was ready to sleep for the night.

The city of Froya was an exception to the rules of Dreamland, however. It was like a nocturnal animal, sleeping the day away, and coming to life at night, lighting up like a Christmas tree and shining brightly in the dark. This gigantic city was the next one down from a Capital City, being home to over one million citizens. Despite this, however, the city was peaceful. Very little crime, no destruction. Everyone was considerate towards each other, and no one held a grudge. Little did the people of Froya know, all that was about to change.

In the northern outskirts of Dreamland, just a few miles away from the lively streets of Froya, the Whispy Woods were being cast into shadow. The dense darkness moved over the trees below with a certain elegance that suggested enormous power, travelling over the trees so easily, as if they were not there. What was casting this shadow, emphasised this even more.

Above the forest, gliding slowly through the quickly darkening sky was a very large battleship. From underneath, all that could be seen was a dense blackness, where darkness had hidden it from view, but the rest of the ship was a simply breath-taking sight, with the distinguishing feature being a large, silver mask engraved on the front of the ship.

The ship was very long, from silver mask to roaring engines, but was very narrow. The ship was most narrow just behind the mask, like a long neck, but then widened where it met the wings and continued to the engines. The wings were much similar that of a bats, four of them jutting out at forty-five degree angles all around the widened section of the momentous cruiser.

The theme colour of the ship seemed to be purple, with the wings being completely purple and the same colour being the main one along the sides of the ship too. Silver could be seen in many places also, reflecting the stars that could be seen in the night sky above, making the ship an even more impressive sight that it already was. Along the neck of the grand battleship, in golden letters, was the word, "Halberd."

The Halberd frequently made this pass over the Whispy Woods, casting it in to shadow. It would then proceed just west of Froya, to a large mountain that jutted out in the horizon. After circling this particular mountain several times, the gigantic battleship would proceed back the way it came, and over the horizon, where no-one would see neither hide nor hair of it until its next trip.

The people of Froya had gotten used to the ship after all the times it had passed by, and now regarded as something harmless, like they would a piece of furniture in their homes.

Suddenly, as the last of the Sun's rays dissipated behind the hills in the distance, a large twinkle shone out against the black canvas that was now the sky, just above the Halberd. With the bright twinkle, a high pitched noise rang out over Dreamland. As usual with most things like this, it was ignored, mistaken for another shooting star of which was very common in Dreamland. As the object fell closer to the ground however, it became clear that this was no falling star.

The high pitch noise stopped as the twinkling faded into black, and in its place, a loud screaming echoed out in the night sky.

"Yahahahahaaa!"

The supposed shooting star rocketed for the fields near the Whispy Woods, a mere streak of light to the people below in Froya's busy streets. At closer inspection however, this was not a lump of rock from Space, it was a portly plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom, rocketing from towards ground at an impossible speed.

As the speeding blur of red and blue fell closer to the ground, the Halberd glided smoothly into its path, unaware of the incoming plumber. It continued gliding forward, starting to speed up as it detected Mario, trying to move out of his path. The battleship had been too late however, and the meteorite of red and blue impacted the neck of the Halberd with a huge explosion. The explosion was heard by residents of Froya, and many citizens looked for the source, not knowing what had happened nearby.

After not even a second, a second explosion sounded, and Mario emerged on the other side of the ship with a cloud of smoke to accompany him. He had rocketed straight through the ship like a bullet through skin, and was now unconscious as he fell towards the Whispy Woods. He landed in the calm and quiet forest with an enormous crash, sending rocks and dust scattering upwards.

The Halberd, by now, had failed to stay sky bound, and was now plummeting towards the ground horrendously fast. Whoever was aboard was attempting to create lift again, by re-igniting the engines. They burned with a bright red flame for only seconds, pushing the ship forward quickly, before they died down. This had made the situation worse.

The engines had caused the Halberd to move forward, but now they were out, the Halberd was falling at an angle rather than straight down. It was heading straight for Froya, without any signs of stopping.

The people that had seen the monumental battleship coming had begun to scream and run, but for the unaware, it was too late.

BOOM!

The gigantic cruiser collided with a high rise building, shaking the entire city. Rocks were sent rolling down into the crowded streets below. The remainder of the building simply collapsed in on itself and tumbled to the ground, enveloping everything nearby in a thick coat of debris and dust. Screaming started on the streets below as people looked up to see the Halberd plough through the wreckage and collide with a second building. This building fell sideward, while crumbling under the Halberds weight. The enormous battle ships back end swung forwards as the front end slowed due to impact, and took out another building. This had been an oil factory however, and a fiery eruption of flames ignited on immediate impact. The Halberds wing caught fire as it rolled through the building, destroying equipment and scattering it down on the streets below.

The Halberd continued rocketing forwards, now spinning due to the flames that had swallowed the wings. Another building was demolished as the heavy back end of the ship collided with it, and keeled over, torn in half. As the wing hit it, many pipes and wires were set ablaze, and the inside of the building collapsed down on itself, crushing the people below. As the ship fell lower and lower, it began to rip apart the smaller structures, including trees, statues, and homes. Trees fell, blazing with fire, statues were smashed to pieces, with the rocks scattering over the people below, and homes were simply ripped apart, providing virtually no resistance against the enormous cruiser.

The Halberd eventually hit ground, and started to slow- but at a cost. Many people were crushed by the Halberd as it impacted the floor, silencing their screams, drowning them out with the sound of destruction. As the Halberd scraped along the floor, its wings jutted into buildings, tearing the walls away to exposing loose wires that shocked people as they ran by, leaving their paralysed bodies to be crushed by falling debris. The flaming tips also set lawns and people alike ablaze, to burn to the ground.

As the gigantic cruiser scraped to a halt, people were sucked into the ground it covered as the floor creased, causing enormous cracks that people tripped in. They would then collapse into the path of the Halberd to perish.

Then, with a loud metallic, scraping noise, the quaking ceased, and the Halberd stopped, battered, on fire, and scraped. The metallic noise ceased, the tremors stopped, and rock fall slowed. Weakened building swayed in the breeze, and the fire crackled. The city was in ruins, but the Halberd had stopped.

The disaster was over.

As the citizens realised what had happened, the frightened screams turned into cries of despair as people began to mourn their lost loved ones. Many tears fell at once into the ground of Froya, and the citizens were in unison as they cried out to the stars above. The police were on the scene immediately, the sirens failing to drown out the mourning citizens. Many of the police however, began to cry also, however, upon realising someone that they loved at perished.

Emergency services such as the fire department and the ambulance had rushed out also, putting out fires that had now become infernos, and helping the injured, or taking away the dead, and readying them for their families to identify them later. Many of the people recovered were not even a whole person, even some of the ones found alive.

Many citizens ran towards the huge piles of rock left by the collapsing buildings, digging away in an attempt to find survivors. The rocks were extremely large, and every time one shifted, another would fall in its place.

The city of Froya was in chaos, and services from many other cities in Dreamland could be heard approaching in the distance, but drowned out by the crying and praying of distraught citizens.

Meanwhile, in the centre of the Whispy Woods, the crying could still be heard, along with the screeching sirens. The noise did not disturb Mario, however, who was lying unconscious at the bottom of a deep crater. A nearby stream was running into the crater also, and had risen to the plump man's chest, but the unconscious plumber lay still, unaware of his surroundings. Unaware that he was being watched intently from the edge of the wide, open ditch.

By

Matthew Price / KazMazter


	3. Chapter 3: Aura at the Stump

Battle for the Smash Ball © Matthew Price

Super Smash Bros. and all related games, characters, music and merchandise ©Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Battle for the Smash Ball

Chapter 3

The Aura at the Stump

The wind was quite strong in the Whispy Woods by this time, and the trees rustled loudly the gusts caught on the branches. The sky was completely black now, with tiny pin pricks of light twinkling down upon the scene of chaos below. Froya was still in havoc, with cries still echoing across the sky, and the sirens of emergency services still blaring loudly. None of this, however, disturbed the moustached plumber as he lay unconscious at the bottom of a ditch, with water rising slowly, submerging Mario's body as it did so.

The plumber had been lying in this position for a good half an hour or so now, separated from the destruction of Froya by the tall, rustling trees that made up the Whispy Woods. It was only until something prodded Mario's stomach, that he began to feel conscious of his surroundings. As he snapped back to reality, the first thing he became aware of was that he was soaking wet. He ignored it however, feeling too tired to move. It was only after the second prod, much firmer this time, that Mario became aware that something or someone was poking him. He decided to see what it was.

He slowly sat up, keeping his eyes shut tight for now. As he rose, his back felt like it was on the verge of snapping, and a shooting pain raced through his spine, and stopped at the point his neck met his skull, creating a throbbing headache. Mario rubbed his back with one hand, and massaged his aching head with the other, in an attempt to soothe the pain. It began to work, and he sat up a little more, putting himself into a sitting position.

After a while, Mario opened his eyes, where they were met with an overwhelming sight of bright pink. He quickly clamped his eyes shut as they began to sting from the unexpected glare of colour, and he turned his head away. He eased one eye open slowly, and turned his head back towards the pink.

It was a small, balloon shaped creature, with a kind, cheery face, and large feet that wore bright red shoes. The circular creature stood at Mario's muddy feet, watching him intently with a wide, caring smile on its face. Mario didn't have the energy to return the smile, so turned his focus onto trying to stand.

He gripped a rock that was jutting out of the side of the crater, and put his weight on it, pulling himself up. He moved his legs through the water, pushing against slippery floor, until he was finally upright. He turned, shaking slightly, towards the pink creature that was still watching him with a smile. It watched as Mario struggled to scale the side of the ditch, which the creature was standing at the top of. He sank his hands into the muddy sides of the ditch, using the sludge as a way to climb the slope.

Once the muddy plumber had reached the top, the pink creature offered a hand to Mario. Mario looked at the creature for a moment, before he gripped its arm, and was pulled up the side of the ditch until he stood on solid, dry ground.

"Th-thanks..." Mario mouthed, his words only just becoming sound. He decided to repeat his thanks, only louder this time, "Thanks for the... Thanks for the help," he spluttered.

The creature did not reply, but merely turned away and began to walk down a rocky path that led out of the clearing and deeper into the woods. It turned to Mario, and signalled him to follow. The plumber sighed, and slowly walked forward, limping every other step.

The path through the woods seemed to go on forever, winding its way deeper and deeper into the forest, getting rockier, muddier, and more difficult to follow. Mario didn't pay attention to his 

surroundings as he followed the balloon shaped creature through the trees, and it took several minutes for him to realise that they had faces, with their eyes following the two as they walked past, heading towards who knew where.

After a very uneventful 10 minutes of walking, the path became more defined as it led into a clearing, where the trees surrounded an open are of grass, where a large tree stump stood sturdily in the centre. There was a bright light shining on the stump that seemed to cast the surrounding trees into shadow, as if they were unneeded, unused. The light outshone that of the moon, and the stars in the black canvas above, and Mario had to close his eyes to shield them from the light as it began to get brighter and stronger.

With a loud, shrill ringing noise, a blue wisp rose from the light, swirling around, casting light in all different directions, until it formed the shape of a woman's body, floating gracefully in the air.

Mario opened his eyes, but not even this beautiful sight took his mind of the aches he was suffering from while standing in the clearing.

"I'm glad we finally get to talk, Mario," the entity said, almost in a whisper.

A tingling feeling went through Mario's spine as the soft voice caressed his cold hears. He felt warm, as if this voice was a cure to his suffering.

"I am Orlia," the aura told Mario, the face looking directly at him, "And there are some things you need to know."

Mario approached the aura, to signal that he was interested. The aura seemed to be aware he was listening, and continued.

"I am aware you may be weak from your fall," the aura said, not losing its caring tone, "So I will heal you now. You have many hardships ahead."

Orlia had hardly finished her sentence, when a dim glow surrounded Mario, and warmth spread through his body, soothing his aches, and sealing his cuts. He was strong again, and found his voice box usable again. He nodded to the aura, "Thank you."

Orlia did not waste any time however, and cut right to the chase.

"Firstly Mario, everything Bowser told you is true. There are two Universes." Orlia explained, her voice still a caring one, "And an energy exchange does take place at the Final Destination Platform."

A look of shock appeared on Mario's face as this sentence finished, and he shook his head in amazement.

"I know it's hard to believe, but trust me. It's all true," the voice confirmed, "I am from the second Universe that Bowser told you of. The one mentioned in the legends."

"But, how are you here then?" Mario asked, unbelieving of what he was being told.

"I'm using the energy that is exchanged between our worlds to form a connection of sorts," the aura explained, "I can't come through fully; your Universe does not allow it."

"Then that means Bowser can't pass into your Universe. Right?" Mario reasoned, trying to bring a sense of logic to the conversation.

"Unfortunately, no," Orlia answered, disappointment edging into her voice, "There are differences between my Universe and yours."

"Well-ah, explain it to me," answered Mario.

"Your Universe is what is called by the people in my reality, a Dependent Reality. A Universe that depends on another for its very existence. Like a parasite, draining my Universe of energy it doesn't use, and in exchange, giving us a different type of energy," explained Orlia, "The energy your Universe drains from mine is called Creation Energy. Your Universe depends on it for everything here."

"Really?" Mario replied, unable to take it in.

"Yes," answered Orlia, "In my Universe, everything that exists in your reality is a mere dream. When something is dreamt up in my reality it enters existence in yours, becoming a real object."

"So that explains the mystery disappearances of objects and people in this world..." Mario replied, "What's the other energy? The one your Universe takes?"

"That energy is called Essential Energy," replied Orlia, not losing her caring tone, "This is energy my Universe takes to recreate a shadow of your very existence in imaginary forms such as video game characters."

"So..." Mario began, trying to clear his head, "Creation Energy for Essential Energy... My Universe takes the energy and turns the idea into reality. The result is Essential Energy that is passed into your Universe to allow the existence of the _idea_ to become real, in exchange for more Creation Energy. The cycle then continues."

"That's correct," confirmed Orlia, nodding her head, "Now we move on to the Smash Balls."

Mario nodded, to show he was ready to continue.

"The Smash Balls contain huge amounts of power," explained Orlia, "This power allows you to use attacks you could never dream of using normally. Am I right?"

Mario nodded again to confirm her statement.

"Now, every Universe is supposed to be infinite, but yours is a dependent one- meaning there are limits to the amount of energy it can store," Orlia continued, "By now, your Universe should have separated from mine, but an organisation in my Universe are preventing the detachment."

Mario went to speak, but Orlia continued over him.

"You mustn't worry about that however," she told him kindly, "Me and many others are working on stopping them. You have your own task."

"Ok," Mario sighed. He didn't feel right not being able to help.

"Now, when your Universe fills with too much energy, it has only one way to dispose of it before it fractures reality," the aura explained, an edge of seriousness creeping into her tone now, "And that is by scooping huge amounts of the excess Creation Energy into a Smash Ball, and sealing it in."

"And that's why we're-ah so powerful when we open them," Mario finished, "I see."

"Yes," nodded the aura of Orlia, "That's correct."

"So now that I know about that," asked Mario, "Explain to me how Bowser can exist in your Universe, but you can't in mine."

"This happens because of the flow of energy," explained Orlia, "The origin of your existence lies in this world, with the unused Essential Energy. This means, you can exist in both worlds. In your Universe, we cannot exist because there is no tie to our origin of existence. The energy _we _need to survive."

Mario groaned.

"But don't worry," continued the wisp that represented Orlia, "There is a way to prevent Bowser from crossing to my reality. Destroy the Final Destination Platform."

"I thought so," replied Mario, raising his fist, "If I destroy that, then he can't cross over."

"Yes," confirmed the aura, "By destroying that platform, you will sever the link between the two Universes. Your Universe will unchain itself from mine, and grow into its own infinity. Your shadow will still exist in my Universe however, as Essential Energy will be left trapped and recycled through your constant revival as an imaginary character."

Mario nodded, "I'll blow that platform out of the sky. Don't worry."

"I'm glad, Mario. Stay with Kirby, he'll lead you out. Be careful."

Before Mario could say another word, the aura vanished in a cloud of sparkling dust, and the clearing was left unlit, and cold from the breeze that had began upon Orlia's departure. As Mario and Kirby stood together in the clearing, vices could be heard approaching from the way they had both come.

"I think it landed near here," a deep, gruff voice called out.

"What was it anyway?" another asked.

"I don't know, but we need to find it, whatever it was. The city's in ruins!"

Mario sighed, and closed his eyes. But soon felt Kirby tugging at his arm while pointing to a second opening leading out of the clearing. Mario nodded at Kirby with a smile, and they set off down the path leading out of the Whispy Woods.

Written by Matthew Price / KazMazter


	4. Chapter 4: Attack from a Mask

Battle for the Smash Ball © Matthew Price

Super Smash Bros. and all related games, characters, music and merchandise ©Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Battle for the Smash Ball

Chapter 4

Attack from a Mask

It wasn't long until a dim light greeted Mario and Kirby as they left the Whispy Woods. The Woods had been quiet, thankfully, and the trip had been quite smooth, apart from the odd rock tripping Kirby up every now and then.

As the two of them left the woods, they emerged at them edge of a huge field, filled with different lengths of grass, and different types of flowers. Mario would have considered this place beautiful, but his eyes quickly found a huge ditch in the centre of the field, with a strange vehicle sitting in it, smoking rapidly. As he watched the vehicle, Kirby ran on ahead towards it. As Mario's eyes followed the pink creature, they caught a glimpse of the city in the distance, and the plumber was flooded with guilt.

With the feeling, became increased awareness of the light fog that now occluded the area, and the smell of smoke and rubble. Even the distant sirens seemed to get louder, as if trying to reach Mario's ears, let him know exactly what was happening, so he could feel bad about it for ever more.

The moment lasted for more than a moment. He couldn't take it in. The destruction. The despair. He had never seen anything this bad in the Mushroom Kingdom, yet here, in Dreamland, the people were in chaos. Kirby looked back at the shaken plumber with a warm smile, but Mario still had to fight an awful lot to keep back the tears building up behind his kind eyes. He took one look at the city, and promised to stop Bowser in his mind. He turned back to Kirby, nodded, and they ran towards the deep crater to see exactly what was sitting in it.

As they approached the edge of the ditch, they realised that the vehicle sitting in it was some kind of shuttle or pod. The two of them slowly made their way down the side of the crater, until they were at the bottom, and began to work around the object, examining it carefully.

Mario noticed that the left wing had been torn off completely, and the stump was red hot from whatever it impacted with. He guessed most of the windows had been smashed, for the crunching of shattered glass sounded under his feet with every step, some of it sticking to the bottom of his shoe. He got to the other side of the pod, where he saw the opposite wing was still intact, but cracked in places. He then came across what looked like a door, lying on the ground, completely crumpled from impact.

"I think there's an entrance by-ah here, Kirby," called out Mario, "I won't fit. You go."

Kirby nodded to him, a smile on his face, and then began to crawl through the hole. He pulled himself through easily, as if the door had been built for him.

Once inside, Kirby had to blink several times to adjust to the increased darkness. Once he could see a little better, he lifted his head up to look above, but he smacked it against a unit that had collapsed above the entrance. He let out a small yelp, and began rubbing his head. He moved forward some more, and his eyes became fixed on a circular silver mask, lying on the floor. Kirby seemed to recognise it, and looked frantically around for the owner. He found him.

Lying unconscious in a seat at the opposite end of the ship, was what looked like a second Kirby- but with blue skin. The creature wore armour on each shoulder, and a gold sword lay next to it, in an open cabinet for easy access.

Kirby waddled forward, mask in hand, and began to poke the blue creature. The creature stirred, groaning in its sleep, until its eyes eventually opened, to find Kirby smiling at him. The blue Kirby did not respond in the same manner however, and gripped its sword, baring it at Kirby angrily.

"Kirby? Are you ok?" called out Mario.

Mario stood back as Kirby suddenly run out, a look of panic on his face.

"Kirby, what's-"

BOOM!

The pod erupted in a cloud of smoke and flame, and dirt and mud were kicked up, clouding Mario and Kirby's vision. A second explosion then erupted, an aura of purple emanating as it did so, sending Mario and Kirby hurtling backwards, into the grassy field.

As Mario landed, his back hit something solid with a clang, and a pain shot through his back. He had to ignore it, however, as a dark, purple aura was rocketing towards him. The aching plumber gripped hold of whatever it was he had hit, and threw it at the aura, while it was only a metre away. As he threw it, Mario recognised it to be the wing that had been ripped off the pod that had just exploded. It span through the air like a helicopter propeller, until it connected with the aura less than a second later.

The aura was smashed at an angle, and went soaring to Mario's left, crashing somewhere behind him. As the crash kicked up dust and smoke, Mario turned to Kirby, and helped the pink creature up onto its feet, before they both assumed a fighting stance.

As the clouds of dirt faded away, they revealed a small, masked creature of similar build to Kirby. It wore a thick, metallic mask that covered the whole body, and matching shoulder armour. In its right hand, it held a short, golden sword that glowed brightly in the darkness. Behind it, a long, purple cape rustled about gently in the light wind.

"You destroyed my ship," the creature spoke, in a deep voice that commanded authority, "You were the, 'comet,' that landed in the forest. Correct?"

Mario didn't know what would be the best way to answer, so he stayed silent.

"I'm guessing this is one of your plans Kirby," the masked warrior continued, its yellow eyes looking towards Kirby, "You're here to collect the assassin. Am I correct?"

Mario began to reply this time, but the attacker cut him off.

"You plot against me? Why? Do you fear me Kirby?" it said, louder than the last time it spoke, "Well now I'll give you a reason to fear me, Meta Knight!"

"Isn't he your nemesis?" Mario muttered to Kirby with a smile.

Kirby responded with a small giggle.

It did not last long however, for Meta Knight had dashed forward, and kicked Kirby backwards with huge force. The pink ball went rolling backwards, and the masked warrior turned on Mario, who dodged a powerful punch. Mario swung his leg to try and trip Meta-Knight, but he jumped into the air, swing his feet forward as he did so. The kick connected with Mario's chin, and the plumber rolled backwards, landing flat on his back.

Meta-Knight rushed forward and went to ground pound Mario, jumping high in to the air, fist held high, ready to soar downwards. But as he jumped, Kirby crashed into him, slamming all of his weight into the masked attacker, sending him flying straight into a tree. The tree collapsed on impact, and more dust and dirt was forced upwards as the tree collided with the ground. Kirby pulled Mario back onto his feet, and the watched the tree wreckage, waiting for Meta-Knight to strike.

As the two of them stood, Meta-Knight fired a blast of energy toward them from his sword. It blasted away the wreckage of the tree, and rocketed towards them, a shockwave of pure power. Kirby was small enough to duck under it, and Mario managed to jump it, but as he did, Meta-Knight jumped up in front of him, and slammed his fist into the plumber's already aching face. Mario fell back to ground with a crash, but quickly recovered, spinning himself back onto his feet, where he indicated for Meta-Knight to bring more.

The attacker responded in the way Mario had expected, by charging towards the oldest Mario brother. The thing Mario hadn't expected was Meta-Knight to bring down his sword at such an amazing speed. Mario just evaded the slice, but he came off with a deep cut across his chest, that was beginning to bleed heavily. He took several jumps backwards, to escape the reach of the blade, and placed his hand heavily on the cut for pressure. He could feel the blood trickling down his chest, and his glove began to absorb some of the blood, turning it a red colour.

Mario watched as Kirby tried to keep Meta-Knight away from him. Meta-Knight beat Kirby away, but he responded with an upwards kick, sending the masked warrior soaring into the air. Kirby jumped above him, and delivered another blow to the attacker's back, where he plummeted into the rocky patch of the field, crashing with a loud crunching of rock and dirt. Kirby landed on his feet gently, but was not able to relax long, for Meta-Knight emerged from the rocks with an eruption of power, scattering large rocks all over the field. The masked attacker dashed forward and began battering Kirby with every limb.

As Meta-Knight focused on Kirby, Mario decided the kind creature needed some help, and despite his wound, he ran with all the speed he could muster towards Meta-Knight. He jumped high into the air, and soared downwards; leg stretched, and delivered a powerful kick to the side of Meta-Knight's head. The attacker's mask cracked along the one side, and Meta-Knight rocketed towards the ground once again, where he landed this time in a field of long grass.

Deciding not to give Meta-Knight any chances, the two companions dived in after the attacker. Meta-Knight greeted them immediately however, by slamming into Kirby with his elbow, and slashing at Mario with his sword. He missed, but it was meant to. The sword let out a huge, golden shockwave that cut all of the nearby grass, and the top of Mario's hair. Mario continued attacking however, not giving Meta-Knight a chance to take another swing. Mario kicked at Meta-Knight, who jumped back, but right into the path of Kirby's attack however, firing Meta-Knight deeper into the long grass. Mario and Kirby pursued, fighting against the thick, tall grass in an attempt to locate the masked warrior. There wasn't a trace until Mario was hit powerfully in the ribs by an invisible force that quickly revealed itself as Meta-Knight's fist. He was sent hurtling out of the grass into the open field; where he lay exhausted, face down in the mud, his cut now stinging for being covered in dirt and dust.

Mario turned himself over to take his cut away from the dirt, and positioned himself on his back, staring up at the sky. He watched as the stars twinkled cheerfully, as if the battle below wasn't happening. As he watched, clutching his wound, one star in particular caught his eye. It seemed to be growing larger and larger. It was a few seconds later Mario realised that it wasn't a star, and that it was falling towards him. It was circular, and as it got closer, Mario recognised the Brawl symbol branded on it. It was a smash ball.

Thinking of the power it would give him, Mario dragged himself up, getting ready to dive for it. But he then noticed a dark blue aura emanating from the sphere, and that the colour scheme seemed more sinister than usual. He decided not to chance it, and jumped out of the way as the Smash Ball rocketed down on him. Rather than smashing however, it lifted back into the air, and took another lunge. Mario jumped to the side, but tripped over a rock that was jutting out of the ground. He fell onto his back again, and another pain rushed through his back, rendering him incapacitated for a few moments. But that was all the Smash Ball needed however.

As Mario watched the Smash Ball take another lunge while he could do nothing to evade it, Meta-Knight blasted Kirby out of the long grass with a swish of his cape. The pink creature soared through the air, where the incoming Smash Ball connected with him, instead of the plumber that had been intended.

"K-Kirby!" Mario called out, gasping for breath as he did. His wound was beginning to constrict his lungs, and he couldn't manage anymore.

As Mario stared at Kirby, who was beginning to shake violently, Meta-Knight emerged from the long grass in search of more action. As he did however, he became interested in the shaking Kirby, and stood near Mario, watching intently.

Kirby's body slowly calmed down, but after a few seconds of silence, the pink creature screamed in a voice that wasn't its own. An explosion of power erupted from Kirby's tiny power, and Mario and Meta-Knight had to lean forward to resist the immense wind that had been kicked up. Then, faster than either of the two could blink, Kirby was raging forward, eyes blinded with uncontrolled fury.

Written by Matthew Price / KazMazter


	5. Chapter 5: The Rage of a Friend

Battle for the Smash Ball © Matthew Price

Super Smash Bros. and all related games, characters, music and merchandise ©Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Battle for the Smash Ball

Chapter 5

The Rage of a Friend

Mario's eyes could not keep up as his furious companion charged towards him and Meta-Knight. Before he could do so much as position himself ready for a fight, Kirby had rushed passed the plumber, bowling him over with the shockwaves left behind. Mario tried to pull himself up, but his restricted chest made it very difficult to breathe, so he lay helpless, watching Meta-Knight face up to Kirby.

The masked warrior was no match from what Mario could see. Kirby was smashing him to a pulp, warping behind him, and moving faster than anything Mario had ever seen. He decided that Meta-Knight needed help, and pushed himself up onto his feet. But it was bad timing. As he rose, Kirby finished with Meta-Knight, throwing him into the ground with a huge crash that kicked up dust and dirt everywhere. Without a second glance at the fallen warrior, Kirby charged at Mario mercilessly, not a single look of remorse in his eyes for his actions. Mario knew this was no longer Kirby. He had to fight.

Kirby threw a fist at Mario, who threw himself sideways in an attempt to dodge it. He did, but was met with a powerful kick to the gut, that caused the plumber to cough and splutter in pain. He flew backwards from the force of the hit, but Kirby warped behind him, smashing him hard in the back with his fists. The plumber keeled forwards, unable to move, and lay face down in the grass, his cut stinging, and his back aching.

The possessed companion began to walk slowly towards Mario, a grin on his face that wasn't his own. As he got close however, Meta-Knight dove at him, now ready to go after being beaten away the first time. He slashed at Kirby with his blade, leaving a golden shockwave in its wake, but Kirby merely leaned back, causing it to miss. As he leaned back, he kicked out at Meta-Knight catching him in the stomach, and hurling him backwards. But Meta-Knight corrected himself using wind from his cape, and blasted back at Kirby with great speed. The masked warrior attacked rapidly, using everything he could; fist, leg, sword, cape, energy blasts. Every attempt proved futile, with Kirby evading them with ease, still with a menacing grin on his face.

"Why - can't – I – hit you!" Meta-Knight cried out into the night, still attacking Kirby. Eventually, the possessed creature grew tired of Meta-Knight's persistence, and Kirby delivered a crushing blow to the masked warriors stomach, causing him to drop his sword and collapse in agony. As he did so, Mario watched as Kirby laughed in a voice that didn't belong to him. What was wrong with his friend?

Mario dragged himself forward, unable to summon the strength to stand. He pulled on the grass, slowly moving towards Meta-Knight, who was still moaning in pain. Before he had moved barely a metre however, Kirby detected Mario's movement, and turned on him, his smile stretching across even more of his face now.

But once again, Meta-Knight overcame his pain, and he rose to his feet, once again challenging Kirby. He looked at Mario first however.

"Grab my sword," he called out to Mario, indicating the golden blade that was laying on the grass nearby.

Mario nodded to show he understood. Whether Meta-Knight saw him, however, he did not know, for he became occupied with Kirby as the fierce creature charged towards him. The injured plumber dragged himself forwards, toward the blade, and felt warmer and warmer as he got closer to it. It was very strange. He reached out for the hilt of the sword that was coated in brown leather, and 

encrusted with different coloured gems. He gripped it as hard as he could with his numb hands, and something very peculiar happened.

A light shone bright from the central jewel of the sword, illuminating the nearby field. A soothing warmth flooded Mario's body, sewing the cuts together, and massaging the aches. One thing that didn't heal however, was the gash on Mario's chest that had been made by the sword in the first place. Despite the cut however, Mario felt replenished, and ready to fight once more. He decided to question what had just happened later, and ran towards the battle between Meta-Knight and Kirby, hoping he could help.

Mario made his move while Kirby was distracted, and tackled the possessed creature, smashing into him with great force. Kirby rocketed away into the field of long grass, but before the portly plumber could do so much as look at Meta-Knight, Kirby had re-emerged, furious about being hit. He charged towards Mario, the purple growing larger as he did. He just kept getting stronger.

Kirby threw his body at Mario in an attempted tackle, but the red capped battler ducked and rolled to the side. Kirby swung back his fist however, and span at Mario, who managed to jump back out of the way. As Kirby stormed nearer, Mario kicked out his legs, his powerful kick impacting Kirby's face, sending the possessed companion rocketing backwards.

Mario was reluctant to use his sword; he knew that the kind and friendly Kirby was in there somewhere, and he wasn't going to destroy him. The plumber decided to drop the sword, but Meta-Knight had something to say about that.

"No you fool!" the masked warrior cried out to him, trying to stand, "Pick it back up! You are the-"

But Mario couldn't hear anymore, for Kirby had charged back towards him in a blinding rage. All of a sudden, Mario couldn't handle the creature. Kirby's movements and actions were too fast for Mario to react to, and he couldn't land a single hit. A smile appeared on Kirby's face, again one that did not belong to him. Then, with one swift movement of his arm, he had blasted Mario into the ground with a crash, where he lay at the bottom of a deep, rocky ditch.

The cut across Mario's chest began to burn again as he lay, and the aches returned to his limbs and back. He found it hard to move any part of his body, and remained still as Kirby laughed down at him. What had just happened? As Kirby floated down to finish Mario off, a purple energy blast connected with him, sending him smack into a tree. The tree collapsed under the force of the impact, and the field was quiet.

Meta-Knight suddenly appeared, standing over Mario. He offered his arm, and the weakened plumber took it, with the masked warrior then pulling him out of the ditch, and resting Mario on his shoulders.

"We need to get out of here while we-"

Meta-Knight did not get to finish the sentence however, as with a huge crash, Kirby emerged from the wreckage of the tree, and stood a few metres from Mario and Meta-Knight, the menacing grin still stretched across his face. Kirby's body was battered and bruised, and under normal conditions would not have been able to move under its condition. Clearly what ever had taken control could not feel the pain of the body.

"Kirby!" called out Mario, hoping he'd get some sign of a response, "It's a me-ah, Mario!"

There was no response, just the sound of the wind that had now picked up speed, brushing along the nearby trees and grass.

"You won't get a response," stated Meta-Knight, "The body is like a puppet right now. And puppets don't talk."

"How do you-?"

Mario was cut off however, by the noise of people calling over from the Whispy Woods. They must have been the people that had been looking around for the 'meteor' while Mario and Kirby had been with Orlia. They didn't know how much danger they were in.

"Hey? Is that Kirby!?"

"Yeah, I think it is!"

"Alright! Go Kirby!"

Mario groaned at how foolish the people were. Even from their distance, they should still be able to see the dark aura emanating from Kirby.

"Get out of here!" Mario called over as loud as he could, "Kirby's possessed! He'll destroy you all!"

Mario's plea was only met with insults and ignorance however, as they vouched for Kirby, thinking he was still their protector.

Mario's possessed companion looked towards the group of people, and then back to Mario, an expression f pure terror on his face. His smile broadened, and he turned to the people near the woods.

"Oh no," cried out Mario. He turned to the people, but before he could give the warning, Kirby had rocketed toward them at amazing speed.

The plumber cried out one last plea, but the people only cheered as Kirby got closer to them. Mario went to run forward, but his legs would not allow it. Neither would Meta-Knight. The masked warrior gripped Mario by the wrist, and ran in the opposite direction, pulling the plumber along with him. He snapped up his sword as he ran past it, and jumped high into the air, still gripping Mario's wrist.

As they rose, Mario could hear the cheers of the people turn into screams as Kirby slaughtered them. Their hero was now their killer. A tear ran down Mario's cheek as he thought of the innocent people. They didn't deserve that.

It was only after a few minutes of being in the air that Mario wondered how this were so. He looked up at Meta-Knight, who hadn't spoken since take off, and saw that the masked battler's cape had transformed into bat-like wings, flapping wildly to keep them both in the air.

"We're getting close to Froya," Meta-Knight suddenly called out to Mario over the oaring wind, "It's gonna be in ruins."

"Is that-ah the city your ship crashed into?" asked Mario.

"Yes," the armoured warrior replied, "But that's not what we're going there for. We're just passing through. It's quicker than going around."

"Shouldn't we stop to help the people?" Mario questioned. Meta-Knight was silent for a while before he replied in a very cold tone, "I'm not welcomed many places here in Dreamland. Let's leave it at that."

A scene of chaos met Mario's eyes as Meta-Knight carried him into Froya. People everywhere were running around frantically, back and for between piles of rock and debris, carrying other injured people to safety. The sound of fire rumbled all over the city, and screams echoed everywhere. Devastation had affected every feature of the city; the buildings, trees, parks, but mostly the people. Very few people noticed the two as they glided silently through the city, as almost everyone was occupied with someone.

It was as Mario and Meta-Knight passed over a destroyed leisure centre that was blazing with fire that a huge explosion sounded in the distance, and the sound of a collapsing building rumbled the city. More screaming could be heard shortly after, and more explosions.

"What is that!?" shouted out Mario, as another explosion sounded, this time a lot closer than the others.

"It must be Kirby," Meta-Knight replied, "We have to move. Hold on!"

Meta-Knight rocketed forward, pulling Mario along with him as if he were a kite. Mario looked backwards as the wind blew wildly in his face, where he saw a building collapse in a blast of energy. Then, from the wreckage, emerged Kirby, his dark aura larger than ever.


End file.
